


space oddity

by black_queen (hotch_fan)



Series: Eccentric Superhero Boyfriends [17]
Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Iron Man (Movies), Justice League - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Confrontations, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Drama, Established Relationship, Feels, First Meetings, Guilt, Hurt Bruce Wayne, Hurt/Comfort, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Male Friendship, Non-Graphic Violence, Protective Clark Kent, Protective Tony Stark, Secret Identity, Serious Injuries, Swearing, Tony Stark is Terrible at First Impressions, Watchtower - Freeform, because Tony is in it, but it's not his fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-11-10 11:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11125935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotch_fan/pseuds/black_queen
Summary: The worst thing about working alongside Batman was seeing him get hurt and being unable to do something. Well. That and what happenedafter.AKA the time Bruce got hurt and Tony met the Justice League for the first time. It went as well as you would expect. Thank God for Superman.





	1. first impressions

**Author's Note:**

> This series just passed the 100 bookmarks (102 at this moment and seriously guys, thank you so much! You have no idea how happy I am to see you're enjoying this) and to celebrate such important occasion I bring you: The Justice League! Kind of. ;)

Clark rested his elbows on his knees, head cradled between his hands and eyes closed. His hearing was narrowed down to the med bay--one room in specific--and he could hear every sound in there. Bruce's heartbeat, the beeps and buzzing of the equipment, the whisper of movement as the medical team worked and the tense exchange of words.

He could be watching the procedure too. He should be watching it, but he didn't think he could. Clark couldn't bear to see Bruce lying on the operating table while the doctors worked to save his life ... and the blood. There was _so much_ blood. Clark squeezed his eyes tighter.

The attack happened so fast he had no time to stop it.

In the middle of his fight with Bizarro Clark allowed himself a small smile when Batman activated one of the many devices he kept in his belt, turning all of Toyman's robots useless, and the next moment he caught the flash of a dark blur out of the corner of his eye as the figure was thrown several feet away from where he had been standing.

Clark flew to him before he knew what he was doing and was barely on time to catch him before his body hit the ground. Protecting the unconscious man with his body, Clark flew away without bothering to say anything to the rest of the League and instead asked J'onn to set everything up to transport them back from the location of the closest zeta tube.

Once in the Watchtower, he flew straight to the med bay where the medical team was already getting ready to work, but his job didn't end then. With all the security measures implemented, he had to use his x-ray vision and super strength to find and open the hidden clasps to remove Batman's suit and cowl.

Back when they were still working to set up the Watchtower, Bruce had insisted on the need to protect the identity of League members when they needed medical attention. The idea of making J'onn erase the necessary memories from the medical team was dismissed almost immediately, and they chose to use magic instead.

A special spell had been cast in the medical facilities by Giovanni Zatara (someone Bruce met during his training) that protected the identity of anyone in the area by blocking the memory of the person's face--unless you already knew them--as soon as you stepped out of the medical area. He had no idea how it worked, but it did.

With Bruce being taken care of and his identity safe, Clark knew he should have left then. Should have flown back to Metropolis to help the League. That was what Bruce would have ordered him to do if he had been conscious, but he wasn't, and so Clark stayed.

He collapsed into one of the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting area as soon as he was asked to leave the operating theater and hadn't moved since then. He forced himself to tell J'onn to contact him if the League needed help, but that was it. The next time he heard from the Martian he told him the others had taken care of everything.

The buzzing from the comlink in his ear some unknown time later pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Superman."

He let out a sigh before replying. "What is it, J'onn?"

"I apologize for disturbing you, but we require your assistance in the Monitor Womb."

The Kryptonian straightened up in the chair.

"What's wrong? Did something else happen in Metropolis?"

"No. The situation had been solved there. Wonder Woman and Flash have just returned, and Green Lantern and Hawkgirl are helping the local authorities to contain Grundy and Bizarro."

"What is it then?"

"It is not an emergency, but we have an _unusual_ situation that requires your presence."

"I'll be right there," Clark replied with a frown.

He hesitated a moment, using his x-ray vision to look through the walls and into the operation theater, and watched as the medical team continued their work. He didn't want to leave, even when he knew there was nothing he could do to help Bruce. Not even the acknowledge that he could keep monitoring him from anywhere in the Watchtower helped. Clark curled his fingers into fists and forced himself to move.

Superman flew past a couple of League members on his way to the Monitor Womb and ignored the surprised and consternated looks aimed his way. News traveled fast so they already knew about Batman's injury.

It took him less than a minute to arrive, and when he did, the first thing that caught his attention was one of the large holographic monitors in the back. It was showing a very angry Tony Stark looking down at his teammates from what Clark immediately recognized was the Batcave. Of course, the billionaire was using the Batcomputer to contact the Watchtower.

And now he understood why they called him.

Billionaire entrepreneur Tony Stark was in a very public relationship with his counterpart Bruce Wayne, but that meant nothing to the rest of the League since they didn't know Batman's identity. J'onn knew, of course. It was near impossible to hide things from a telepath, but he probably didn't have enough information about Earth society or even Bruce's life to know about the relationship between the two billionaires.

Or maybe he did and that was why he contacted him. Stark was using Batman's own communication line to ask for information on the injured vigilante, and the others had no idea what to do about it.

His teammates' backs were turned to him, but he could see Diana standing to the side in an unmistakable defensive posture. In contrast, J'onn looked entirely unperturbed and at his side, Barry looked tense and unable to stand still. It was the speeder with his nervous shifting who noticed him first.

"Superman!" He called, obvious relief in his voice.

He felt the eyes of every person in the room turn to him, so he straightened his posture and looked at the screen.

"Where's he!?" Stark demanded before he could speak.

Clark was taken aback by the vehemence of the words and the expression on the billionaire's face. He didn't think he had ever seen Stark without a smirk on his face or an amused twinge in his eyes. The change was enough to give him pause.

"Batman is still in surgery, Mr. Stark. I contacted A and told him I would call as soon as I had any information to share."

There was no immediate reply to that, and a second later Clark realized the reason. Stark's brown eyes were fixed on his chest, looking at the messy patch of blood covering the front of his suit. Bruce's blood. Clark stopped from crossing his arms to hide the stain. He was reminded of the fact he had dried blood in his hands as well.

"I'm going there," Stark declared, leaving no room for argument.

"What!?" Barry almost squealed.

"Mr. Stark, I'm sure you understand we cannot allow a civilian in the Watchtower. And I don't think _Batman_ would appreciate that," Clark added, putting special emphasis on the name to remind him Bruce's identity was still a secret since the billionaire obviously didn't care about the first part.

"I don't care!" Stark shouted.

"You arrogant man! We-"

"Diana," The woman shot him a glare but didn't say anything else. Clark cleared his throat. "I understand your concern, Mr. Stark, but Batman is receiving the best care possible at this very moment. There's nothing you, or any of us, can do at this time. I will give you an update as soon as I have any information about his condition. You have my word."

"Right. Well, that's nice and all, but I don't need that because I will be _there_ to hear it myself."

"That is not possible." The Martian replied.

"I'm not asking for permission!" Stark shot back with narrowed eyes. "Either you give me access to your little space club house, or I get it myself. Really, you should thank me for having the courtesy to _ask_ in the first place."

"You cannot do that." Diana countered.

"Oh, but I can. Do you know who I am, sweetheart?" Clark saw Diana's face darken at the nickname. He swallowed. "I'm a fucking genius, and if I say I can get in I will get in. And even if you doubt me, you should really take a look behind me. It's clear none of you are the brains here, but I'm sure you can put two and two together.

"And you know what? You're not very good being the brawn either, so I don't think you can stop me anyway." He finished with a snort.

"How dare you-"

"I dare, Princess because you're all fucking _pathetic_. Because even with all your mighty powers together, no one of you was capable of watching the back of the only human fighting at your side. _No one!"_

Nobody dared to say anything in response to the billionaire's accusation.

 _Of course_. Of course, he wasn't the only one who felt guilty about what happened. He saw it in the way Diana tightened her grip on her sword and the clench of her jaw. Barry's head was hanging low, hands fidgeting a little. Even J'onn had inclined his head slightly down, even though he hadn't been out in the field.

They should have protected Batman. He should have protected Bruce.

Clark closed his eyes and searched for the familiar heartbeat at the other side of the Watchtower.

"What's it going to be, Supes? Do I need to do it all myself or what?"

He paused, exchanging a look with the others even if he knew there was no choice at all. The rest of the League may not know it, but Stark helped Bruce with the design of the Watchtower, and even if he hadn't, the man was a genius. Of course he could find a way to get in here, especially if he was using Batman's system, and the others weren't going to take the breach well if it happened.

The only thing Clark could do now was try to maintain some semblance of control over the situation and stop things from getting too out of hand. The last thing they needed was for a fight to break out in here. And, it was obvious Stark truly cared for Bruce and was worried sick right now. Clark couldn't just ignore that. It would be cruel.

That, of course, didn't change the fact Bruce was going to be less than happy with this. All of it.

"Well?"

"We will allow you to come into the Watchtower," Clark conceded after a moment, and he caught the minute sag of Stark's shoulders. "It would be temporary, of course, and your access will be limited to the medical facilities. I don't think that should be a problem."

Stark snorted.

"It will also be your responsibility to explain the situation and your presence here to Batman."

A flicker of doubt crossed Stark's dark eyes for the first time but was gone just as fast as it appeared. "No problem."

Clark nodded, feeling the corner of his lips twitch. It was strangely reassuring to see he wasn't the only one worried about Bruce's possible reaction. "Do you know how the teleporter system works?"

"Of course I do."

"Then you know we will need a moment to make some adjustments to allow a guest in the satellite."

"You have five minutes," Stark stated before cutting off the connection.

Silence fell into the Monitor Womb.

"Are we truly going to allow that man in here?" Diana asked him, her tone quiet yet sharp.

Clark wasn't surprised by the fact Diana was the first to speak. She was a strong, proud woman, and naturally, she wasn't simply going to forget Stark's insults and rudeness. Clark didn't even know what Stark said _before_ he arrived, but what he heard was enough to justify Diana's reaction.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

Clark sighed. "I know this is highly unorthodox, and that the way Stark acted should be enough to deny him access, but this is ... complicated. Besides, you heard what he said. If we don't let him in he will find a way himself."

"Wait. He was serious?" Barry asked, eyes wide behind his mask.

"I believe so,"

"So we confront him," Diana countered. "He wouldn't be able to get past all of us."

"That's not- He's not our enemy." Diana looked ready to argue, while Barry still seemed hesitant, so Clark played his last card. "He's in Batman's lair and used the system there to contact us. I think it's clear Batman trust him."

Like Clark expected, the last sentence settled the matter. It was obvious they didn't agree with this but were willing to go allow with it under the idea that he knew Batman better than they did, and if the Dark Knight trusted Stark with his secrets, it was for a reason.

"Wait! Does he give Bats money?" Barry asked suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. "I mean, he's filthy rich, and the things Bats use don't look exactly cheap, you know?"

Clark had to stop himself from squirming even a little as they turned to him for answers. He hated when that happened because he knew he could never betray Bruce's trust, but he also hated lying to his friends.

"It's not my place to deny or confirm anything about Batman," Clark replied simply before turning to the Martian. "J'ohn, can you make the necessary configurations?"

With a nod, the Martian moved to the control panel.

"We also need to clear the corridor from the closest zeta tube to the med bay," He said, turning to the other two heroes. "The fewer people know about Stark's presence, the better."

"I'm on it," Barry declared before disappearing from the room.

"Diana ..." The Amazon turned her head, chin raised proudly. "Can you please try not to punch him?"

She pondered the request for a moment before inclining her head slightly in concession. Before Clark could sigh in relief, she spoke.

"I shall, but I may have to reconsider that if he insults us one more time."

Clark nodded slowly, knowing that was the best he was going to get from her and it wasn't entirely her fault. Stark seemed to have a strange gift for making people want to deck him, after all. He just hoped the billionaire would hold his tongue for the couple of minutes it would take to get him to the med bay.

Or maybe he should just keep him away from Diana entirely. That sounded like a better idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it. Like I've mentioned before, I'm not a comic reader so I hope I didn't mess the characterizations too bad. Either way, any advice will be very welcome. The next chapter should be posted soon. It will be from Tony's POV and quite different than one. You'll see. ;)
> 
> This is unbetaed and I'm not a native speaker, so please feel free to point out any mistake you may find.
> 
> The title was taken from the song by the same name by David Bowie. It has zero to do with the fic, obviously, but I chose it because I love the song and because the Watchtower it's in _space,_ and having Iron Man in the League's headquarter is an _oddity,_ so yeah. Space oddity. I'm sorry. *runs off*


	2. the other side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the comments and kudos, and I'm sorry this update took so long. I hope the wait was worth it. :D
> 
> We're switching to Tony's POV this time.

Tony was spinning a pen between his fingers, forcing himself to pay attention to Pepper as she told him the details of the business contract. He was supposed to be present at the meeting where that was discussed three days ago, but an emergency made him fly to Iraq instead.

Technically, Pepper was the boss now, but it was still his company and he was trying to be a little bit more hands-on with the big decisions.

The contract was supposed to be a done deal by now, but a week before they were scheduled to sign the representatives of the other company had backtracked, coming up with changes to a couple of the clauses they had already agreed to in the first place.

Tony would have gladly sent them to hell for pulling that crap, but Pepper was much more conciliatory and professional than that. She wasn't just going to give in to their demands, of course, but she also didn't want months of negotiations to go to waste.

The board had discussed a possible counter offer to deliver, and Pepper was currently presenting him the details.

"Mr. Stark?" JARVIS called, uncharacteristically interrupting the redhead.

"What's up, J? I thought all this boring crap had put you to sleep." Tony smirked in answer to the look Pepper sent him.

There was no reply from the AI.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "JARVIS?"

"Batman was injured moments ago during a battle in Metropolis, sir," The AI announced after a moment.

Tony should be doing something right now. Meaning, getting the hell out of here and going to Bruce's side. He knew he should, but he just _couldn't._ He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. He couldn't _fucking_ think. Okay, he needed to start with the breathing thing. Yeah, that sounded like a great idea. He closed his eyes and tried to use one of the breathing techniques Bruce taught him.

"What happened, JARVIS?" Pepper asked and Tony forced himself to pay attention.

"I have not been able to find any reliable proof since the nearby surveillance cameras were destroyed, but it appears Batman was hit with some kind of energy beam."

The billionaire could feel Pepper’s eyes on him as he tried to regain some semblance of calm and control.

"Where's he?"

"Superman already took him away from the scene, sir."

He nodded, brain already working frantically as he got past the initial panic. Kent must have taken him to the League's headquarters, and as much as he wanted to go up there right now he couldn't. Not even with his suit. The best option he had was fly to Gotham.

"Get my suit ready, JARVIS." He ordered as he all but ran in the direction of his workshop. The sound of his name being called made Tony stop and turn around.

Pepper had been walking after him, so it took her only a couple of seconds to stand before him. She put a hand on his shoulder before planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "Try not to do anything stupid, okay? It's going to be fine."

* * *

"What happened?" Tony demanded as soon as he flipped up the faceplate, striding to where Alfred was sitting before the bank of monitors.

"I do not know the details yet, sir. Mr. Kent called moments ago to inform me he took Master Bruce to the medical unity in the Watchtower and that he was currently undergoing surgery."

"Fuck," He muttered, rubbing a hand across his face.

The butler was thin-lipped as he looked over the several screens. Live news broadcasts from a handful of stations filled most of the monitors, all of them reporting or showing blurred short clips of the battle in Metropolis. One of them mentioned Batman's injury in the caption underneath, but they weren't giving any details about it.

"JARVIS told me the cameras around the block were damaged," He said as his eyes flickered around the monitors.

"Quite so. Some videos taken from civilians have been broadcast, but the quality is quite low and they have not shown the moment of the attack." Alfred pressed some keys. "I'm currently searching if any of the satellites owned by Wayne Enterprises or Stark Industries were in the position to capture any images."

Tony nodded, watching as the older man worked. Knowing who had hurt Bruce would be a good start to figure out how serious it was.

"I'm going up there." He declared after a long moment of standing uselessly behind the butler.

Alfred turned to him with a proper eyebrow lifted. "Are you sure that is wise, sir?"

"No, but I don't care. There's no way in hell I'm staying here doing nothing."

The older man said nothing for a moment. "Very well, but perhaps you should contact the League and speak to them first."

The billionaire blinked down at him. _"Right."_

* * *

Tony kept his eyes squeezed shut, taking a moment to will the dizziness caused by the transportation away before even _attempting_ to descend from the platform. When he opened them, he barely took notice of the Martian standing by the console, eyes and shaky legs immediately moving in the direction of the Kryptonian.

He almost missed his footing when he lowered his eyes to the alien's chest. Tony already saw the blood smeared on the front of his suit when he spoke with him before, but somehow, seeing it right here and now made all this even more real. God. It was so much blood.

"Where's he?" He croaked.

Turquoise eyes met his own for a silent moment. Kent nodded solemnly. "Follow me."

Tony walked after the taller man without a word, eyes glaring straight ahead at the crimson cape flowing out behind Superman, his hands curled into fists at his sides the whole time.

He had tried to convince Bruce to let him visit the Watchtower, even though he knew the place almost like the back of his hand. He saw the many blueprints and schematics Bruce worked on to bring this place to life, after all. Had even helped him some, but he still had been curious about seeing the real thing.

And now that he was finally in here he couldn't bear to take even a glimpse at the place. He was supposed to be walking with Batman- with _Bruce_ at his side for this, damn it!

Distantly, he noticed the cape before him was almost the same shade of red as the blood covering the front of Superman's suit. The mere thought made him feel sick, and he almost dropped to his knees there and then.

He was pulled out of his perturbing thoughts when he noticed Superman had stopped.

"B's still in surgery, but we can wait here."

Tony blinked as he looked around. It was a waiting room, with rows of dark chairs lining the pale wall and nothing more. A half-amused noise escaped from his mouth.

The construction of the Watchtower had cost a small fortune, so Bruce had been pretty adamant to not spend more money that was needed in things that weren't essential for the operation of the satellite and the League. So, cheap furniture and spartan accommodations it was.

Tony had offered to pitch in too, but Bruce refused, stubbornly insisting on footing the bill himself. As he collapsed into one of the chairs soundlessly, he wished he had convinced Bruce to at least get better ones.

The billionaire was so out of it that it took him a moment to realize Kent hadn't left. There were a couple of chairs vacant between them, but he was sitting down too.

"How bad is it?" He whispered.

The Kryptonian's hesitation made his heart skip a beat. He was looking straight ahead and Tony wondered if he was watching through the walls and right into the operating room. He swallowed hard as he waited with bated breath.

"It is serious, but the doctors have already fixed some of the damage."

The billionaire said nothing to that, closing his eyes.

* * *

"Hey," A voice called softly. "Any news?"

Tony didn't reply, much less looked up from where he was holding his head in his hands. The room had been thankfully silent until now since Superman hadn't attempted to make conversation and he had pretty much ignored the alien, even when he felt his eyes on him several times.

"Not yet," Superman replied after a moment of silence.

"Oh."

The billionaire watched out of the corner of his eye as the red-clad man walked further into the waiting room and sat down at Superman's side. Somehow, the sole addition of the speeder in the room turned the tense silence awkward.

"Do you, uh, want to go change?" Flash asked awkwardly.

Superman blinked before looking down at his suit. "I think I will. Thanks, Flash."

The alien's eyes flickered in his direction before he got to his feet. As he watched him disappear, Tony had to wonder if they sent the Flash to babysit him but found he didn't have the energy to care about that. Not now.

It wasn't long before the muted sound of the Flash tapping his feet on the ground at super speed started grating on his nerves, but just as Tony was about to snap at him to fucking _sit still,_ the other man spoke.

"I'm sorry."

He lifted his head and looked at the man with a puzzled expression. "What?"

"What you said back there, about us not protecting Bats. You were right." The speeder explained, looking down. "He doesn't like it when we help him out and stuff, but we should do it anyway."

"You should," Tony agreed, his tone soft.

* * *

The sound of approaching footsteps and low voices made Tony look up again. Rather than seeing a group of medical personnel, he was met with a winged woman and a black man. It was clear from the sweat, dirt, and blood in their clothes that they had just arrived from the battle. The Amazon woman was trailing after them too, but like Flash and Superman, she already took the time to clean up.

The billionaire looked down again, arms crossed across his chest as he ignored the newly arrived so-called heroes.

"How's he?"

"We don't know anything yet." It was Superman who answered the question yet again.

There was silence for a moment as the group continued to hover in the entryway.

"Who's he?" Hawkgirl asked then, nodding in his direction.

"That's Mr. Stark." Flash offered quietly.

Tony looked up at the mention of his name and didn't let his gaze waver even when he met Wonder Woman's hard blue eyes. He realized he may have gone a bit too far with his accusations and threats (with some help from Alfred), but he wasn't going to apologize or back down. He knew he was right.

"Iron Man, right?" Green Lantern asked, watching him.

"Yes." Tony met the man's assessing green eyes straight on and wished for the first time since his arrival that he had decided to bring his suit along. He felt naked, surrounded by powerful people wearing their battle armors, or whatever the hell they used as armor since some of them didn't look particularly protective.

"And what is he doing here?" The brusque question was directed at Superman rather than him, but Tony tried not to take it personally. Bruce did mention Hawkgirl could be hostile and confrontational at times, and he kind of liked her from what little he knew about her. She also reminded him a tiny bit of Thor with her 'mace'.

"He's here for Batman."

The black man frowned. "I didn't know Batman had ties with the Avengers."

"He doesn't," Tony confirmed.

"But he has them with you?" The tone clearly indicated the Lantern wasn't convinced of that.

"That's right."

Tony held the man's gaze, unwilling to be cowed by the other man. There was no way in hell he was going to let them kick him out of here. No fucking way.

"I thought only members of the League were admitted into the Watchtower." The redhead commented, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Superman chose to make an exception for him," Wonder Woman replied.

All eyes went to the Kryptonian, clearly demanding an explanation.

"Can we discuss this later?" Superman asked, his voice strained.

It seemed to be enough to make the other back down. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl left the room a moment later, asking to be updated if there was any change, while Wonder Woman lingered. She watched him for a long moment before moving to occupy the empty seat at Superman's side.

* * *

Tony stood up to stretch his legs after hours spent sitting in the same damn chair. He stretched more than his legs and rolled his shoulders and neck a little to work out the kinks. After a moment he was pacing around the small room, feeling like a caged animal, but unwilling to step outside in case B woke up again. Or tried to in any case.

The doctor that spoke with the billionaire warned him it was going to be a slow and gradual process. That it would take Bruce several attempts to stay awake for more than a couple of seconds and be aware of his surroundings as Tony had already witnessed.

A muted sound had Tony back at Bruce's bedside in a second.

"Ngh," The man on the bed groaned, hazel eyes blinking several times. He opened his mouth, trying to form words and coughed instead.

"It's okay, don't try to talk yet." Tony turned to fill a glass with water and brought the straw in it to Bruce's mouth. "Here. You can have some water. Easy, Easy. The water isn't going anywhere, cupcake."

"'ony?" Bruce croaked, unfocused half-lid eyes looking in his direction.

"I'm here." He replied, taking one of Bruce's hands gently on his own as he put the glass of water back on the bedside table. "It's okay. You're safe. You're in the Watchtower."

"'atch'er?"

"Yeah. You were hurt in the field, but the doctors already patched you up."

Dark eyebrows were knitted together as Bruce's eyes continued blinking slowly. He was clearly having a hard time staying awake and Tony couldn't blame him. Batman or not Batman, he was high as balls right now.

Bruce murmured something that probably was meant to be 'what are you doing here?' but with pretty much no vocals in between.

Tony leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "Shh. Go back to sleep. You can interrogate me later."

As the injured man finally succumbed to sleep, he continued stroking his hair.

* * *

Tony was sitting in the chair by the bed, tongue stuck between his teeth as he worked on the schematics on his pad. He hated working like this, away from his workshop and JARVIS, but it was not like he had any other choice, really. There was no way he was leaving the satellite until Bruce did too, and this needed to be done and fast.

At least the chairs here were more comfortable.

There was a slight hint of stubble when he touched his cheek, and he grimaced. At least he got the chance to shower and eat a little. And, the billionaire was pretty sure he had Kent to thank for that, as well as for the fact he hadn't been kicked out yet, now that Bruce was out of the woods. Not that he would have left without a fight.

He couldn't imagine the rest of the League (minus maybe Flash who had been around to bring him food a couple of times) was all that happy with his presence, especially Wonder Woman, but the fact he hadn't attempted to put a foot out of the med bay probably helped with that a bit too.

Still, he could admit he owed Kent. Bruce was probably right about the guy not being all that bad.

The billionaire shook his head and went back to his work. He needed to have the new design ready to work on the modifications to the Batsuit as soon as he was back on Earth. Tony wasn't giving Bruce the chance to protest on this.

Tony wasn't sure how much time had passed when there was movement from the bed. He saved his progress with a couple of taps before putting the pad away and getting to his feet. The pad was something else he had Kent to thank for since he hadn't thought to bring _anything_ with him.

Hazel eyes blinked a couple of times as Bruce struggled to adjust to the light in the room. Lying very still, his eyes flickered around the room, taking in every detail before they came to rest on Tony.

"Hey,"

He blinked. "Tony?"

It was evident Bruce was much more clear-headed now than he had in the previous times he had woken up. It made Tony's body relax a little.

"The one and only, darling. How do you feel?"

"I- better, I think?" He furrowed his brow. "We are in the Watchtower."

It wasn't a question, but Tony answered it anyway. "Yeah."

"What are you doing here?"

Tony took one of Bruce's hands and brought it to his lips. "You know, that's the second time you ask me that, cupcake. I'm starting to get the feeling you don't want me here."

"You know what I mean." The words were slurred a little.

"I know." Tony's eyes flickered away for a moment. "I may or may not have contacted the League and asked them to let me in."

"Asked?"

"More like I threatened my way in, I guess."

"Mhm."

He blinked down at him. "That's it? Aren't you livid I probably compromised your precious secret identity and I don't know what the fuck else?"

Bruce gave him a look, but the corner of his lips was tugged slightly upward. "I'm drugged, in case you haven't noticed. I'm sure I will have a lot to say about this once I'm not high."

"That's not very reassuring."

He shrugged- or tried to. A small grimace of pain flashed across his face. "Wasn't supposed to be."

"You're a sweetheart," Tony grinned, giving Bruce's hand a light squeeze before letting it go.

* * *

Tony climbed slowly the stairs of the Manor, holding the tray of food Alfred prepared and that he offered to bring up for the grumpy Bat.

Batman hadn't exactly been released from the medical bay in the Watchtower. It was much more accurate to say he glared and growled his way out of there as soon as he was coherent enough to do so. Tony had been a little impressed if he was honest. At least Bruce had the sense to compromised to use a wheelchair for the transportation, and only after Kent assured him there would be no one around to see him leave.

Having Superman at his beck and call also took care of the little trip from the cave to the bedroom, and so Bruce had been oh-so-carefully carried in the Man of Steel's strong arms through the threshold. Kind of.

Tony wasn't going to let Bruce live that down anytime soon. No, sir.

He struggled a little to balance the tray on one hand as he reached to open the bedroom's door and step inside.

"You're supposed to be resting!" Tony accused as soon as he saw him.

Bruce was sitting in bed, propped up against the headboard with his open laptop resting on his lap and reading glasses on.

"I am," He called without looking up.

Tony put the tray on the bedside table. "Huh-uh. I'm talking about everyone else's notion of rest, not _yours,"_ He reached for the laptop and after taking a look at the screen closed it. "Resting means not working."

Bruce gave him a look from under his unruly dark hair. It was adorable, really. He shot him a grin before putting the laptop in the drawer and reaching again for the tray and placing it on his lap.

"Bon Appétit, sir," Tony said with a solemn bow. Bruce just rolled his eyes so Tony climbed into bed, stealing a piece of fruit from the bowl before settling at his side.

"When were you going to tell me about the dressing down you gave the League?" Bruce asked casually as he speared a piece of cantaloupe with his fork.

Tony froze. "Oh, I see. I should have known they were going to go running to Mommy crying about meany Tony."

"They didn't. I saw the footage."

Because of course he did, Tony thought with an eye roll of his own. "Well, everything I said was true, so," He shrugged.

He shook his head. "It isn't their job to protect me. I need to be able to hold my own or else I become a liability."

"Right. I suppose I should say the same thing the next time I'm injured when I'm with the Avengers and you spend hours listing all the mistakes they made and telling me how they left me uncovered and vulnerable to attacks I don't know how many seconds.

"I mean, the only thing stopping you from doing what I did is your secret identity."

"Touché," Bruce murmured with a wry twitch of lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's over. I hope you enjoyed it even if there wasn't as much Tony-Justice League interaction as I'm sure you were hoping. I have to admit there wasn't going to be any more interaction other than with Superman (all the worry and tension would have tame Tony a little) but your comments made me try to fit the other Leaguers a little bit more, which is why this chapter was longer.
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading my first foray into the Justice League fandom! I'm hoping it wouldn't be the last. ;)


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